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Racist Kramer
The Michael Richards Laugh Factory incident (commonly known as the Racist Kramer incident or just Kramer Day) refers to an event on November 17, 2006 at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood where Michael Richards, known for his role as Cosmo Kramer in the sitcom Seinfeld, angrily shouted a racially charged response during a stand-up routine at African-American audience members, frequently alluding to the Jim Crow era and shouting "nigger". The incident was later parodied on several TV shows and eventually became a reoccurring meme solely on the Flustered Fernando channel. History Seinfeld In 1989, Richards was cast for the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, as Cosmo Kramer, the eccentric but kind-hearted friend and neighbor of main character Jerry. The show has consistently received critical acclaim and is often considered one of the greatest sitcoms in history. Since then, many people have made a bunch of remixes of other songs using the instruments found in the theme song for Seinfeld. This trend seems to have started around late 2010 on YouTube and popularized by users like SynaMax and Rushnerd. The incident On November 17, 2006, Michael Richards was performing at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Hollywood, California when a group of around fifteen to twenty people celebrating one of the friend's twenty-sixth birthday sat down in some of the upper seats during the middle of Richards' performance and started ordering drinks. Because of how large the group was, they unintentionally ended up being louder than expected. In response to this, Richards said something along the lines of "Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there." He continued on with this racially-charged bit for a while until Kyle Doss, a member of the group, said "My friend doesn't think you're funny." Richards, hurt by the statement, responded by giving Doss the middle finger and said "Fuck you, nigger." After this, another audience member began filming Richards with their cell phone and Richards lost his temper and began making jokes about lynch mobs and repeatedly shouted "He's a nigger!". This continues for at least two minutes until one of the audience members gets up and leaves, calling Richards "cracker-ass" and tells him that he's unfunny and a reject. Several other audience members leave as well and then Richards walks off the stage. The host of the show gets onstage and says, "I don't know what to say, guys. Uh, sorry about that." This is where the recording ends. Transcript The video footage of the event was later sent to TMZ who added some subtitles, censored out most of the profanity used with the exception of "nigger", and then released the footage three days later.TMZ Staff (November 20, 2006). "Kramer's" Racist Tirade -- Caught on Tape". In The Zone. TMZ. Aftermath Media coverage of the event was widespread with unanimous condemnation of Richards' actions. On the webseries Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Richards mentioned the incident when talking with Jerry Seinfeld. "I should've been working selflessly that evening. Most of the time when I'm in that zone, I am selfless. ... I busted up after that event seven years ago. It broke me down. It was a selfish response, I took it too personally and I should've just said, 'Yeah, you're absolutely right, I'm not funny. I think I'll go home and work on my material and I'll see you tomorrow night!' and split or something, anything. ... Inside, it still kicks me around a little bit." Rips Rips referencing the incident were first uploaded on November 17, 2016 and November 17, 2017 (ten years to the day after the incident, leaving many to refer to November 17th as Kramer Day) and were apparently deemed so controversial, that they were uploaded to the Flustered Fernando channel, skipping over the SiIvaGunner channel entirely. The meme is usually incorporated in a few different ways: * Using audio clips straight from the recording of the incident, usually using Richards' use of the word "nigger". This is the most common form of manifestation of the meme. * Using clips or images of the Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. * Using clips from other videos related to the incident (e.g. Richards' apology, an stand-up bit about the incident by Dave Chappelle at the Laugh Factory) * Using other clips of people saying "nigger" or "nigga" References